Net Effect Research Articles

A bacterial toxin co-opts caspase-3 to disable active gasdermin D and limit macrophage pyroptosis

During infections, host cells are exposed to pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) and virulence factors that stimulate multiple signaling pathways that interact additively, synergistically, or antagonistically. The net effect of such higher-order interactions is a vital determinant of the outcome of host-pathogen interactions. Here, we demonstrate one such complex interplay between bacterial exotoxin- and PAMP-induced innate immune pathways. We show that two caspases activated during enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) infection by lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and Shiga toxin (Stx) interact in a functionally antagonistic manner; cytosolic LPS-activated caspase-11 cleaves full-length gasdermin D (GSDMD), generating an active pore-forming N-terminal fragment (NT-GSDMD); subsequently, caspase-3 activated by EHEC Stx cleaves the caspase-11-generated NT-GSDMD to render it nonfunctional, thereby inhibiting pyroptosis and interleukin-1β maturation. Bacteria typically subvert inflammasomes by targeting upstream components such as NLR sensors or full-length GSDMD but not active NT-GSDMD. Thus, our findings uncover a distinct immune evasion strategy where a bacterial toxin disables active NT-GSDMD by co-opting caspase-3.

EFFECTS OF R&D SPENDING ON TOBIN’S Q OF SELECTED TEN US IT COMPANIES

The purpose of this paper is to empirically re-explore the effects of current and lagged R&D expenditures on Tobin’s Q for selected ten US IT companies (Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Facebook/ Meta, Dell Technologies, Intel Corp, IBM, HP Inc, Cisco Systems, Oracle). These companies have been selected for their visible and enduring dominance in term of market-capitalization in the US IT sector. They belong to the magnificent 7 as well that approximately constitute 30% of the S&P 500 index value. The empirical methodology involves the implementation of the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) upon satisfying the statistical requirements for its suitability. Annual data are used with differing sample periods across these companies due to complete availability of data. Unduly wide variabilities are observed in their year-to-year R&D expenditures. The current and lagged explanatory variables negatively correlate with current Tobin’s Q with some minor exceptions. Their net effects range from zero to negative in most cases, amid a few exceptions. To conclude, the findings are conditioned on how the spendings for R&D are expensed and the length of the gestation period between R&D spending and the unpredictable outcomes. The findings of this paper are supported by de Andres et al (2017, 2021), Oriani and Sabrero (2008), Coad and Rao (2010), Arad and Weill (2007), and Li and Tallman (2011).
 Keywords: Tobin’s Q, R&D, Correlation, Regression, Causality, Net Effect
 JEL Classifications: G10, G30, G39.

THE EFFECT OF A POLYPROPYLENE IMPLANT TREATED WITH THYROTHRICIN ON THE HYPOGASTRIC TISSUES OF THE ABDOMINAL WALL IN RATS

Introduction. The study of tissue reactions to the placement of polymeric materials (polypropylene mesh), used for the treatment of hernias, remains relevant. The paper examines the hypothesis regarding the existence of certain differences in tissue reactions to polypropylene implants without and with treatment of the latter with an antimicrobial agent. Objective of this study is to investigate the reaction of the tissues of the peritoneum and the muscle-aponeurotic layer of the abdominal wall to a polypropylene implant treated with thyrothricin, used for the treatment of complicated variants of inguinal hernias.
 Materials and methods. Experimental studies were conducted on laboratory sexually mature male Wistar rats. Experimental animals made up 4 groups of 5 animals each. The 1st group included control animals (intact). In the rats of the 2nd group, a defect of the abdominal wall of the hypogastric region was surgically modeled. In the animals of the 3rd experimental group, after modeling the defect of the abdominal wall, a polypropylene mesh implant was placed between the peritoneum and the inner leaf of the aponeurosis of the rectus abdominis muscles. The 4th experimental group consisted of animals in which the polypropylene implant was additionally treated with a thyrothricin solution.
 Results. During the experimental study, the integration of tissue elements of the peritoneal walls and the muscle-aponeurotic layer of the abdominal wall with the material of polypropylene meshes was revealed. Active processes of collagenogenesis were observed in the boundary zones and the area of integration with the implant, as well as pronounced manifestations of vascularization of the newly formed connective tissue. The morphological features of the connective tissue formed in the area and around intact implants and meshes treated with thyrothricin did not significantly differ from each other, but significantly prevailed over the condition of the tissues in intact animals. No particular difference between the above-mentioned changes in the tissues of animals of the 3rd and 4th groups was found.
 Conclusion. The obtained results indicate positive biocompatibility of body tissues and polypropylene implants. There is no negative effect of polypropylene nets treated with thyrothricin on body tissues and their regenerative potential.

The biological cropping hypothesis over evolutionary time: an experimental test

Ecological disturbance has been proposed to have a variety of effects on biodiversity. These mechanisms are well studied over shorter timescales through experimental manipulation of ecosystems, but the effect of disturbance on longer timescales, where evolutionary processes operate, is less well understood. This is at least in part because evolutionary processes are too slow to observe in experimental manipulations of ecosystems. Here, we use the Rapid Evolutionary Simulator system (REvoSim) to solve this problem. REvoSim is a spatially explicit, agent-based simulation tool that models both ecological and evolutionary processes and is capable of simulating many thousands of generations of evolution per hour in a population of up to 1 million organisms. We use REvoSim to evaluate the biological cropping hypothesis, which predicts that the non-selective culling of organisms from populations (“cropping”) can enhance diversity in those populations over long timescales by reducing the homogenising effects of competitive exclusion. Our experiments demonstrate that cropping alone can increase diversity within populations under certain circumstances: those where it has the net effect of reducing the selection pressure acting on those populations. However, intense cropping pressure may increase the selection pressure on organisms to reproduce rapidly, potentially offsetting the effects of reduced competitive exclusion on diversity. We also show that cropping alone is not sufficient to result in reproductive isolation within populations. This implies that, while cropping can maintain a high species diversity within an ecosystem, additional mechanisms must be invoked to generate that high diversity in the first instance.

Quantifying the impact of crop coverings on honey bee orientation and foraging in sweet cherry orchards using RFID

AbstractAdvancements in agricultural production have seen the rapid adoption of protected cropping systems globally. Such systems have been optimized for plant growth and efficiency, with little understanding of the potential impacts to key insect pollinators. Here, we investigate the effect of bird netting and polythene rain covers on the health and performance of honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) during the pollination of sweet cherry crops. Over two consecutive seasons, 12 full‐strength colonies were equipped with tagged bees and radio frequency identification (RFID) systems. The colonies were equally divided between open control, bird netted and polythene (semi‐permanent VOEN in 2019 and retractable Cravo in 2020) groups. Over 1300 individual bees were monitored for the duration of the commercial pollination period to determine behavioural parameters such as foraging commencement age, number and duration of trips and overall survival. Bees began foraging within the optimum age range (mean 15.7–24.1 days) under all covering types, with little indication of prolonged stress or increased mortality during the short season. Polythene covers (VOEN & Cravo) were found to significantly increase the total time needed for bees to orientate successfully. Once orientated, bees placed under covers conducted up to 155% more foraging trips, with a longer cumulative duration. Covering type was found to significantly impact the amount and type of pollen collected, with the most restrictive system (VOEN) yielding the highest proportion of cherry pollen. Overall, we found little evidence to suggest that the tested protective covers have a detrimental impact to honey bee foraging in cherry crops.

Method for Calculating the Avoided Impact of Specific Information and Communication Technology Services

Particular Information and Communication Technology (ICT) services can help avoid environmental impact in larger contexts. However, there is no commonly agreed bottom-up methodology for calculation of the total net reduction effect of specific digital ICT services. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a common denominator for most methodologies. The most common method is the Attributional LCA (ALCA), and recently the emerging handprint ALCA estimating so-called positive environmental impacts. Moreover, Consequential LCA (CLCA) can be used to capture market effects. The third conceptual approach is Input-Output LCA. The purpose is to propose and test a new method based on some of the existing ones. The existing concepts are compared and a synthesis is made to create a practical but still useful method. The new method is applied to two illustrative cases in the ICT domain; the introduction of a 5G enabled drone for pipe inspection and the 5G enabled health consultation. Compared to simplified ALCA, the difference between the absolute scores for the baseline system and the target system changes around 10% when the proposed simplified CLCA (SCLCA) method is used. The results show that SCLCA, when combined with analytical methods for expressing digital ICT services’ own impact, is a fruitful approach which is both practical and feasible. The new method includes formulae for calculating the total lifetime environmental impact of a specific ICT Equipment when reused or replaced.

Habitat protection and removal of encroaching shrubs support the recovery of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning

AbstractLivestock overgrazing causes environmental degradation, species invasion, biodiversity loss, and productivity decline, with profound consequences for ecological sustainability and human livelihoods. Habitat protection can mitigate such impacts, but we know little about how the long‐term recovery of plant communities from livestock overgrazing depends on the presence of encroaching shrubs. Here, we explored how shrub encroachment mediates the effects of habitat protection (i.e., livestock exclusion and creation of UNESCO protected areas) on biodiversity recovery and ecosystem functioning (i.e., biomass productivity). We leveraged a long‐term (15–25 years) experiment of livestock exclusion and complemented it with the removal of an encroaching shrub species in pasture areas and protected areas. We reveal that habitat protection has positive effects on patterns of recovery. Yet, the effects of habitat protection are mediated by shrub encroachment. Encroaching shrubs have net positive effects on plant diversity in pasture areas but inhibit biodiversity recovery in protected areas. The combination of habitat protection and the removal of encroaching shrubs best enhances the recovery of plant diversity and biomass productivity. A potential underlying mechanism is the shift in plant interactions from facilitation for recruitment and associated resistance to competition for water. Understanding species interactions is key to guiding conservation and restoration actions which can turn degraded ecosystems back into functional, species‐rich communities.

High-throughput characterization of bacterial responses to complex mixtures of chemical pollutants.

Our understanding of how microbes respond to micropollutants, such as pesticides, is almost wholly based on single-species responses to individual chemicals. However, in natural environments, microbes experience multiple pollutants simultaneously. Here we perform a matrix of multi-stressor experiments by assaying the growth of model and non-model strains of bacteria in all 255 combinations of 8 chemical stressors (antibiotics, herbicides, fungicides and pesticides). We found that bacterial strains responded in different ways to stressor mixtures, which could not be predicted simply from their phylogenetic relatedness. Increasingly complex chemical mixtures were both more likely to negatively impact bacterial growth in monoculture and more likely to reveal net interactive effects. A mixed co-culture of strains proved more resilient to increasingly complex mixtures and revealed fewer interactions in the growth response. These results show predictability in microbial population responses to chemical stressors and could increase the utility of next-generation eco-toxicological assays.

Causality between multi-scale built environment and rail transit ridership in Beijing and Tokyo

Recent years have witnessed researchers' academic interests in the relationship between the built environment and rail transit ridership. However, few studies have analyzed it from a beyond-station scale and causal perspective. To fill this gap, this study uses Beijing and Tokyo as cases and utilizes Bayesian networks and generalized propensity score matching to achieve causal discovery and causal inference of built environment and ridership. Moreover, we innovatively consider the line-scale built environment factors. Evidence suggests that transit agencies should promote the overall accessibility of stations along the line to employment concentration areas more than single-station accessibility in Beijing. Meanwhile, the positive impact of bus-rail transit line cooperation on ridership is limited in Beijing. Planners should consider the capacity of rail transit lines. The causal inference results are mainly in line with previous correlation studies, but some interesting differences exist. For example, the net effect of dense pedestrian roads on ridership is negative, reminding policymakers that they should avoid expanding pedestrian paths without developing ridership-attracting resources. This study uses causal theories to emphasize the necessity of corridor-based and modest development.

Environmentally-assisted cracking of electropolished 316L stainless steel in molten FLiNaK salt

Environmentally-assisted cracking is a well-known and extensively studied phenomenon in light water reactor environments but remains relatively unexplored in proposed molten salt reactor systems where the mechanisms at play are expected to be quite different. Here, slow strain rate testing has been performed on 316L stainless steel tensile specimens during simultaneous exposure to a molten LiF-KF-NaF eutectic salt environment at 600°C with a strain rate between 1E-5 to 1E-7 s-1. Sample ductility and ultimate tensile strength were both observed to decrease for slower strain rates/longer salt exposures. Post-mortem characterization of fractured specimens revealed Fe deposits and Cr- and O-rich precipitates decorating surface grain boundaries and crack surfaces, suggesting a cracking mechanism driven by embrittlement of the crack tip due to oxide formation. Unlike previous studies, intergranular Cr corrosion into the bulk was not observed, and distinct differences in surface morphology between electropolished and non-electropolished sample surfaces are reported. Trace metal salt chemistry measurements showed accumulation of 316L alloying elements over the course of the tests. It appears likely that the surface oxide layer induced by electropolishing, in addition to oxygen and moisture impurities in the salt, led to the formation of LiCrO2 which had a net passivating effect that prevented significant bulk corrosion, though some interplay between mechanical and environmental stressors is still observed.

Socioeconomic mental health disparities and income mobility in Australia: A longitudinal factor decomposition analysis

In recent years mental health disparity has been rising in Australia. The contributing factors to this rising disparity are not well understood. We investigated this by measuring and decomposing socioeconomic mental health inequality in Australia using the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) panel survey datasets between 2009 and 2017 employing the longitudinal factor decomposition method. In this research, we decompose the Income-Related Health Mobility (IRHM) and the Health-Related Income Mobility (HRIM) index. The IRHM index reflects the effect of the relationship between relative health changes at a constant income level, and the HRIM index represents changes in income ranking or income mobility with a fixed health outcome over time. Our findings suggest that poorer individuals cannot procure private health insurance, experience more long-term health conditions and have larger exposure to life shocks than richer individuals. Thus, long-term health conditions, private health insurance coverage, and number of life disruptions are the primary factors that negatively impact the IRHM index, thereby contributing to an increase in socioeconomic inequality in mental health in Australia. Moreover, the HRIM index exhibits a more pronounced adverse impact from labour force status compared to the relatively weaker positive effects observed in the IRHM index, resulting in a net negative effect from labour force status in this period. To address this, Australian governments should focus on implementing cost-effective intervention policies targeting disadvantaged populations to maximise health system resources and minimise mental health disparity by addressing the socioeconomic determinants of mental health.

Corporate apologies are effective because reform signals are weighted more heavily than culpability signals

We report two pre-registered experiments (N = 1,410) designed to provide the first examination of the relative weight consumers give the culpability and reform signals of corporate apologies. Participants read accusations that a company had used a morally dubious supplier. Compared to statements that denied responsibility, apologies increased perceptions of both culpability (that the organization was responsible for the transgression) and of reform (that the organization was unlikely to repeat the transgressions in the future). However, reform signals had stronger impacts on consumer trust and consumer support than culpability signals. Because of this, the net effect of the apology on trust and consumer intentions was generally positive relative to a no-responsibility message and a no-information control condition. Results suggest corporations embroiled in a public scandal will benefit overall from issuing a corporate apology, which should help restore consumer support.

Concrete narrative and media ranking effect on consumer satisfaction of DiDi services in China

Narratives drive consumer satisfaction on the one hand and the reputation of the reporting media on the other hand, but current research addresses either alone. This article integrates the narrative of the consumer and the ranking of the reporting media to understand the consumer satisfaction in response to the direct effects and interaction effects. Construal Level Theory (CLT) explains the net and interaction effects whether and how concrete vs. abstract narrative of the user in a high technology service provider reflect on the consumer’s assessment of the service, and if so, how does the media ranking moderate this concrete-abstract narrative on the consumer satisfaction so that we can explain why it matters? We used multilevel mixed effects methods for direct and indirect results based on a large dataset on DiDi company in China, comprising 12,747 entries made by consumers on digital media platforms. Our analysis shows that, independently, concrete narrative and media ranking positively predict consumer satisfaction. However, interactively, concrete narrative becomes negative and the interaction coefficient is positive and stronger than either alone coefficient alone through direct effects. Moreover, the net effect of either the concrete narrative or media ranking becomes insignificant, suggesting a strong moderation effect of the media ranking between narratives and satisfaction. We also discovered a surprising factor in the data analysis, regarding the driver of the hailing service versus the company. The narrative referring to the company (DiDi) creates a positive assessment; the narrative referring to the driver creates a negative assessment. This study suggests the need for education, social skills and behavioural training for the drivers of DiDi can indirectly influence the company.

Student-Perceived Supervisor Motivation and Grade Pressure as Predictors of German Psychology Students’ Thesis Motivation

Writing a final thesis is an important step for many students. Many thesis programs in research-oriented fields are structured as projects in which there is a one-to-one working relationship with a supervisor. In addition, the thesis’ final grade is often perceived as particularly important. This research uses a cross-sectional survey design ( N = 217) to assess student-perceived supervisor motivation and experienced grade pressure as predictors of student motivation when writing their thesis. Derived from expectancy-value models, valence, expectancy, and instrumentality towards achieving a good thesis grade as well as stress from the thesis work are assessed as mediating variables. The results indicate that, as hypothesized, high student-perceived supervisor motivation is associated with higher motivation components and less stress. Grade pressure is associated with higher valence, but also more stress. In turn, motivational components are positively and stress negatively associated with student motivation. The mediation analysis suggests a partially mediated positive effect of student-perceived supervisor motivation and a suppressed net zero effect of grade pressure on student motivation. Although this research cannot establish causality, the results suggest that motivating supervisors may improve student motivation in thesis writing significantly. Furthermore, the negative effects of high grade pressure may not extend to student motivation.

Policy tug of war: EBacc, progress 8 and modern foreign languages in England

ABSTRACT Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) as a secondary school subject is affected by two policies, namely the English Baccalaureate (EBacc) and Progress 8, which contribute to the measurement of performance in exams at age 16 (GCSEs). In this paper, I discuss the concept of performance measurement in schools and the purpose it purportedly serves, before outlining these two policies and considering how they contribute to the culture of performance measurement and a non-neutral discourse around ‘standards’. I argue that the two policies act in tension in a game of tug of war with one another in such a way that the net positive effect on the subject of MFL is zero, but that the negative effect on students is substantial. I suggest that the policies act to impose middle-class notions of what it means to be educated on students, with a substantial negative effect on students from low socio-economic status backgrounds both in terms of their interest in the subject and their perceptions of their own value within the education system.

Family ownership, finance for innovation, and exports. Evidence from European micro and small firms

ABSTRACT This study focuses on the impact of ownership and the finance for innovation on the exports of micro and small family-owned firms (FFs) compared with nonfamily-owned firms (non-FFs) for 11 European Union countries from 2014 to 2020. The motivation for the study lies in the fact that when combining ownership and innovation, the net effect on exports is not always predictable. Although family ownership negatively affects exports, the gains from innovation are significantly higher for non-FFs than FFs when studying the extensive margin of exports. This implies that the innovation effect is not sufficient to close the export gap for FFs. Regarding the intensive margin of exports, the magnitude of the innovation effect does not differ by firm-type. Thus, FFs show a low intensive margin just because of their ownership. The results hold for different model specifications and individual countries.

When the recipe is more important than the ingredients: Unveiling the complexity of consumer use of voice assistants

AbstractThe widespread use of voice assistants (VAs) creates a pressing need to understand what drives consumers to use different VAs. Existing studies have commonly focused on the net effects of antecedents that explain why consumers adopt or continue using VAs, ignoring the complexity of consumer behavior and the combinatorial effects of multiple antecedents. Our study proposes that consumer intention to continue using VAs does not depend on a single characteristic of products or consumers but on specific configurations of such characteristics. By integrating human–technology interaction and media richness theories, we suggest that consumers with distinct psychometric profiles and learning styles may evaluate humanlike and technological attributes of VAs differently. Our study shows that the complex interconnectedness between different VA attributes and consumer characteristics can provide a holistic understanding of why some consumers continue or stop using VAs. The results advance the media richness literature by offering novel insights into multimodality in consumer–technology interactions by examining consumer evaluations of single and multimodal VAs (e.g., smart speakers vs. touchscreen smart speakers). Our study provides templates for managers to effectively design VAs aligned with their segmentation and targeting strategies.

When artificial intelligence substitutes humans in higher education: the cost of loneliness, student success, and retention

ABSTRACT Artificial intelligence (AI) may be the new-new-norm in a post-pandemic learning environment. There is a growing number of university students using AI like ChatGPT and Bard to support their academic experience. Much of the AI in higher education research to date has focused on academic integrity and matters of authorship; yet, there may be unintended consequences beyond these concerns for students. That is, there may be people who reduce their formal social interactions while using these tools. This study evaluates 387 university students and their relationship to – and with – artificial intelligence large-language model-based tools. Using structural equation modelling, the study finds evidence that while AI chatbots designed for information provision may be associated with student performance, when social support, psychological wellbeing, loneliness, and sense of belonging are considered it has a net negative effect on achievement. This study tests an AI-specific form of social support, and the cost it may pose to student success, wellbeing, and retention. Indeed, while AI chatbot usage may be associated with poorer social outcomes, human-substitution activity that may be occurring when a student chooses to seek support from an AI rather than a human (e.g. a librarian, professor, or student advisor) may pose interesting learning and teaching policy implications. We explore the implications of this from the lens of student success and belonging.

Influencing Factors as well as Implementation Path of Synergistic Development of Digitalization and Greening in Manufacturing Industry: Analysis from a Configuration Perspective

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 14pt;">The manufacturing sector must incorporate digitalization and greening as crucial strategies to attain high level of development in the context of the digital economy, given its significant role in quality of environment. Most of existing studies explore net effect of a single or several factors on the digitalization or greening in the manufacturing industry. Limited investigation has been done to integrate various factors impacting the connection and synchronized advancement of digitalization and greening within the manufacturing. Factors affecting the synergy of digitalization and green change within manufacturing are recognized in this article, and a theoretical framework is established to analyze. FsQCA tool is also put into use to survey configurational cases, which contains synergy degree of green digitalization from 30 provinces’ manufacturing in China. Results show that: (1) Between 2007 and 2020, the development level of digital-green integration in the manufacturing industry shows an upward trend. There are three types of collaborative modes, namely, "industrial robot driven" "market development driven" and "market development driven - industrial robot driven", with each mode consisting of at least one to four equivalent pathways. (2) The marketization level and application of industrial robots are the important external and internal pulling forces that drive the synergy degree of digitalization and green change within manufacturing industry, respectively.(3) The influencing factors of the collaborative mode choice of digital-green development within manufacturing industry are complementary, among which, the degree of marketization is similar to the role of industrial robots in the configuration, which are capable to weaken the negative impact from insufficient government R&D investment support under specific conditions; (4) The non-high collaborative state of digital green in manufacturing industry is mainly due to the low level of marketization, openness, and economic development, as well as the low application rate of industrial robots and software products. This study enriches the theoretical understanding on digitalization and green change of manufacturing industry. Meanwhile, it also provides insights to advance the integrated and synergistic advancement of digital green transformation in manufacturing practice.</span></p>

Nationwide Effectiveness and Efficiency of the National Diabetes Prevention Policy Versus the Penny-per-Ounce Excise Tax Policy on Sugar-Sweetened Beverages.

Diabetes has reached epidemic levels in the United States (US). This review compared two nationwide diabetes prevention policies: the National Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) and the Penny-per-Ounce Excise (POE) tax policy on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) based on their efficiency and efficacy in reducing the number of new cases of diabetes in the US.Thestudy made a recommendationfor the implementation of one or both policies based on the comparison. The national DPP focuses on screening for prediabetes in overweight/obese individuals and having positive subjects participate in a potentially insured one-year weight loss program with CDC-approved coaches. The POE tax on SSBs on the other hand is based on taxing SSBs with the objective that it will reduce new cases of diabetes due to a lower consumption of these beverages, or a switch to healthier alternatives. Studies that predicted the impact of either policy at the national level were used to compare both policies. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) was calculated by dividing the difference in net costs saved by the difference in net effectiveness (diabetes cases prevented per year); thereby comparing both policies in terms of costs saved for each diabetes case prevented per year. Using only nationwide US predictions, it has been estimated that the POE tax on SSB will produce the most cost savings with a greater impact on reducing new cases of diabetes if implemented; therefore, this tax should be recommended, in addition to the already implemented DPP.