Tetralogy of Fallot and Atrial Septal Defect in a White Bengal Tiger Cub (Panthera tigris tigris)

A 3-week-old female white Bengal Tiger cub (Panthera tigris tigris) presented with acute onset tachypnoea, cyanosis and hypothermia. The cub was severely hypoxaemic with a mixed acid–base disturbance. Echocardiography revealed severe pulmonic stenosis, right ventricular hypertrophy, high membranous ventricular septal defect and an overriding aorta. Additionally, an atrial septal defect was found on necropsy, resulting in the final diagnosis of Tetralogy of Fallot with an atrial septal defect (a subclass of Pentalogy of Fallot). This report is the first to encompass arterial blood gas analysis, thoracic radiographs, echocardiography and necropsy findings in a white Bengal Tiger cub diagnosed with Tetralogy of Fallot with an atrial septal defect

Periodic event-triggered output regulation for linear multi-agent systems

This study considers the problem of periodic event-triggered (PET) cooperative output regulation for a class of linear multi-agent systems. The advantage of the PET output regulation is that the data transmission and triggered condition are only needed to be monitored at discrete sampling instants. It is assumed that only a small number of agents can have access to the system matrix and states of the leader. Meanwhile, the PET mechanism is considered not only in the communication between various agents, but also in the sensor-to-controller and controller-to-actuator transmission channels for each agent. The above problem set-up will bring some challenges to the controller design and stability analysis. Based on a novel PET distributed observer, a PET dynamic output feedback control method is developed for each follower. Compared with the existing works, our method can naturally exclude the Zeno behavior, and the inter-event time becomes multiples of the sampling period. Furthermore, for every follower, the minimum inter-event time can be determined \textit{a prior}, and computed directly without the knowledge of the leader information. An example is given to verify and illustrate the effectiveness of the new design scheme.Comment: 17 pages, 13 figures, submitted to Automatica. accepte

Credit card fraud detection using AdaBoost and majority voting

Credit card fraud is a serious problem in financial services. Billions of dollars are lost due to credit card fraud every year. There is a lack of research studies on analyzing real-world credit card data owing to confidentiality issues. In this paper, machine learning algorithms are used to detect credit card fraud. Standard models are first used. Then, hybrid methods which use AdaBoost and majority voting methods are applied. To evaluate the model efficacy, a publicly available credit card data set is used. Then, a real-world credit card data set from a financial institution is analyzed. In addition, noise is added to the data samples to further assess the robustness of the algorithms. The experimental results positively indicate that the majority voting method achieves good accuracy rates in detecting fraud cases in credit cards

Business on Chain: A Comparative Case Study of Five Blockchain-Inspired Business Models

Blockchain technology, despite its origins as the underlying infrastructure for value transfer in the era of cryptocurrency, has been touted as the main disruptive force in modern businesses. Blockchain has the capacity to chronologically capture and store transactional data in a standardized and tamper-proof format that is transparent to all stakeholders involved in the transaction. This, in turn, has prompted companies to rethink preexisting business practices, thereby yielding a myriad of fascinating business models anchored in blockchain technology. In this study, we advance contemporary knowledge of business applications of blockchain by drawing on the theoretical lens of the digital business model and value configuration to decipher how pioneers in this space are leveraging blockchain to create and capture value. Through a comparative, multiple case study approach, we analyzed five companies in mainland China that have rolled out blockchain initiatives. From our case analyses, we derived a typology of five blockchain-inspired business models, each of which embodies a distinctive logic for market differentiation. For each business model, we offer insights into its value creation logic, its value capturing mechanism, and the challenges that could threaten its longer-term viability. Grounded in our findings, we discuss key implications for theory and practice

Electrospun nanofiber membranes as ultrathin flexible supercapacitors

A highly flexible electrochemical supercapacitor electrode was developed with a novel metal oxide-reinforced nanofiber electrode by utilizing a solution-based electrospinning technique. The facile fabrication steps involved the introduction of metal precursors into a polymeric solution, which was subjected to an in situ electrospinning process. The electrospun polymeric web with metallic ingredients was then subjected to an oxidative stabilization process that induced the formation of metal oxide nanoparticles within the polymer structure. Finally, the metal oxide nanoparticles incorporated with nanofibers were obtained using a carbonization process, thus converting the polymer backbones into a carbon-rich conductive nanofiber structure. The fabricated nanofibers were decorated and implanted with metal oxide nanoparticles that had a surface-decorated structure morphology due to the solubility of the precursors in the reaction solution. The electrochemical performance of the fabricated metal oxide reinforced with nanofiber electrodes was investigated as an electrochemical system, and the novel morphology significantly improved the specific capacitance compared to a pristine carbon nanofiber membrane. As a result of the uniform dispersion of metal oxide nanoparticles throughout the surface of the nanofibers, the overall capacitive behavior of the membrane was enhanced. Furthermore, a fabricated free-standing flexible device that utilized the optimized nanofiber electrode demonstrated high stability even after it was subjected to various bending operations and curvatures. These promising results showed the potential applications of these lightweight, conductive nanofiber electrodes in flexible and versatile electronic devices

Towards A Research Agenda on Digital Platform Disruption

Digital platforms are disruptive IT artifacts, because they facilitate the quick release of innovative platform derivatives from third parties. This study endeavors to unravel the disruptive potential, caused by distinct designs and configurations of digital platforms on market environments. We postulate that the disruptive potential of digital platforms is determined by the degree of alignment among the business, technology and platform profiles. Furthermore, we argue that the design and configuration of the aforementioned three elements dictates the extent to which open innovation is permitted. To shed light on the disruptive potential of digital platforms, we opted for digital payment platforms as our unit of analysis. Through interviews with experts and payment providers, we seek to gain an in-depth appreciation of how contemporary digital payment platforms are designed and configured to foster open innovation. We envision that this study bridges existing knowledge gaps between digital platform and open innovation literature

A Comparative Study of Centralized & Decentralized Digital Payment Providers

Digital platforms are disruptive information technology (IT) artifacts that erode conventional business logic associated with traditional market structures. This paper presents a framework for examining the disruptive potential of digital platforms whereby we postulate that the strategic interplay of governance regimes and platform layers is deterministic of whether disruptive derivatives are permitted to flourish. This framework has been employed in a comparative case study between centralized (i.e., PayPal) and decentralized (i.e., Coinkite) digital payment platforms to illustrate its applicability and yield propositions on the nature and impact of digital platform disruptions. Preliminary findings indicate that centralized digital platforms attempt to create unique configurals to obtain monopolistic power by tightly coupling platform layers, which are difficult to replicate. Conversely, decentralized digital platforms purposely decouple platform layers, to foster open innovation and accelerate market disruption. This paper therefore represents a first concrete step aimed at unravelling the disruptive potential of digital platforms

Exploring Sources of Ineffectiveness in Multi-Level IT Use

There is a notable paucity of multi-level analyses of IT use in IS research. Often, analyses limited to a single level are problematic, as multi-level effects cannot be accounted for. For example, online communities, such as the one examined in this paper, build on network effects: they can provide more value to all members collectively whenever each individual member participates more actively. This example also highlights the importance of usage effectiveness – the rather commonsense, yet often explicitly unexamined, idea that IT systems are not used for their own sake, but to attain relevant goals. Given these challenges, we set out to explore what factors contribute to ineffectiveness in multi-level IT use in the context of an online community. Our initial analysis reveals two novel concepts – frictions and tensions – that could help researchers and practitioners in better understanding the obstacles to achieving effective multi-level IT use

Investigating the Impact of Gender Differences on Trustworthiness of e-WOM

The maturing of Web 2.0 infrastructure fosters the rapid generation and dissemination of electronic wordof- mouth (e-WOM). The abundance of e-WOM allows online service providers to facilitate consumers’ trust building. However, due to the often coexistence of two forms of e-WOM, namely numerical rating and opinionated review, consumers can perceive cognitive dissonance between the former and the latter. This cognitive dissonance can hinder the formation of consumers’ trust and compel them to resolve the conflict. Guided by confirmation bias theory, we propose that, to maintain trusting beliefs when experiencing dissonance in e-WOM, male consumers value opinionated review over numerical rating and vice versa for their female counterparts. The results of our field survey on a custom developed website with 115 college students empirically validated our hypothesized relationships and also unveiled male’s general bias towards opinionated review. Our findings can contribute to both research and practice

Unraveling the effects of google search on volatility of cryptocurrencies

Although cryptocurrencies have garnered enormous public attention in recent times, extensive fluctuations in their prices have deterred prospective investors. Due to the absence of a centralized valuation authority, the credibility of cryptocurrencies as a viable investment vehicle remains elusive. Building on attention theory, this study posits that prospective investors of cryptocurrencies are likely to search online for information before deciding whether to make a commitment. We hence investigate the effects of Google search on the return and risk of 268 cryptocurrencies over 181 trading days. Results indicate that the Google Search Volume Index (SVI) of a given cryptocurrency exerts significant and positive impact on its price and turnover