Successful Acquisition Research Articles

Multilayer Flexible SU8-Gold Microelectrode Arrays for Wearable Bioelectronics

Wearable health trackers for vital signs monitoring are becoming ever more important especially due to the global coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) caused by the SARS‑CoV‑2 virus which severely affect the respiratory system and can cause cardiac manifestations. Particularly, wearable solutions which can seamlessly monitor heart activity are critical to facilitate personal preventive and remote healthcare, as well as to allow early diagnosis of cardiac dysfunctions. A fundamental enabler of wearable bioelectronics is the sensing bioelectrode which is used to record surface biopotentials. While a plethora of attempts have been reported to realize skin-conformal dry electrodes and electronic skin patches, oftentimes a very critical aspect of the electrode i.e., the actual electrical interfacing of the wearable electrode to readout circuits without disturbing the skin-electrode contact, is overlooked. To address this issue, this paper reports a unique tri-layer, polymer-metal-polymer skin-conformal microelectrode design with sidewall metal coating to achieve vertical interconnect accesses (VIAs) and realize contact pads for external interfacing. The novel and optimized process flow reported herein allows repeatable fabrication of flexible electrodes in arrayed format with yields exceeding 90%. Functionality of the microfabricated electrodes were demonstrated by successful acquisition of the electrocardiogram in lead-I configuration with clear detection of the P-QRS-T complex.

Clinical management of molecular alterations identified by high throughput sequencing in patients with advanced solid tumors in treatment failure: Real-world data from a French hospital.

In the context of personalized medicine, screening patients to identify targetable molecular alterations is essential for therapeutic decisions such as inclusion in clinical trials, early access to therapies, or compassionate treatment. The objective of this study was to determine the real-world impact of routine incorporation of FoundationOne analysis in cancers with a poor prognosis and limited treatment options, or in those progressing after at least one course of standard therapy. A FoundationOneCDx panel for solid tumor or liquid biopsy samples was offered to 204 eligible patients. Samples from 150 patients were processed for genomic testing, with a data acquisition success rate of 93%. The analysis identified 2419 gene alterations, with a median of 11 alterations per tumor (range, 0-86). The most common or likely pathogenic variants were on TP53, TERT, PI3KCA, CDKN2A/B, KRAS, CCDN1, FGF19, FGF3, and SMAD4. The median tumor mutation burden was three mutations/Mb (range, 0-117) in 143 patients with available data. Of 150 patients with known or likely pathogenic actionable alterations, 13 (8.6%) received matched targeted therapy. Sixty-nine patients underwent Molecular Tumor Board, which resulted in recommendations in 60 cases. Treatment with genotype-directed therapy had no impact on overall survival (13 months vs. 14 months; p = 0.95; hazard ratio = 1.04 (95% confidence interval, 0.48-2.26)]. This study highlights that an organized center with a Multidisciplinary Molecular Tumor Board and an NGS screening system can obtain satisfactory results comparable with those of large centers for including patients in clinical trials.

Behavioral-play familiarization for non-sedated magnetic resonance imaging in young children with mild traumatic brain injury.

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) sustained in early childhood affects the brain at a peak developmental period and may disrupt sensitive stages of skill acquisition, thereby compromising child functioning. However, due to the challenges of collecting non-sedated neuroimaging data in young children, the consequences of mTBI on young children's brains have not been systematically studied. In typically developing preschool children (of age 3-5years), a brief behavioral-play familiarization provides an effective alternative to sedation for acquiring awake magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in a time- and resource-efficient manner. To date, no study has applied such an approach for acquiring non-sedated MRI in preschool children with mTBI who may present with additional MRI acquisition challenges such as agitation or anxiety. The present study aimed to compare the effectiveness of a brief behavioral-play familiarization for acquiring non-sedated MRI for research purposes between young children with and without mTBI, and to identify factors associated with successful MRI acquisition. Preschool children with mTBI (n=13) and typically developing children (n=24) underwent a 15-minutes behavioral-play MRI familiarization followed by a 35-minutes non-sedated MRI protocol. Success rate was compared between groups, MRI quality was assessed quantitatively, and factors predicting success were documented. Among the 37 participants, 15 typically developing children (63%) and 10 mTBI (77%) reached the MRI acquisition success criteria (i.e., completing the two first sequences). The success rate was not significantly different between groups (p=.48; 95% CI [-0.36 14.08]; Cramer's V=.15). The images acquired were of high-quality in 100% (for both groups) of the structural images, and 60% (for both groups) of the diffusion images. Factors associated with success included older child age (Β=0.73, p=.007, exp(B)=3.11, 95% CI [1.36 7.08]) and fewer parental concerns (Β=-1.56, p=.02, exp(Β)=0.21, 95% CI [0.05 0.82]) about the MRI procedure. Using brief behavioral-play familiarization allows acquisition of high-quality non-sedated MRI in young children with mTBI with success rates comparable to those of non-injured peers.

Environmental Impact on Cross-border Mergers and Acquisitions

The development of the world economy cannot be separated from the economic exchanges between countries, and the main body of economic exchanges is multinational corporations. With the increase of the number of multinational corporations, more economic development situations will appear. In this paper, the new economic transaction mode of "cross-border mergers and acquisitions" is mainly discussed. In addition, due to the changing international situation, economic development is affected by various factors. Cross-border mergers and acquisitions are economic exchanges between countries. They are easily affected by these factors and will bear great risks. From the perspective of the host country, this paper expounds four environmental factors that have a significant impact on cross-border mergers and acquisitions, and from the perspective of the company, briefly describes which companies are more popular when the environmental factors are the same. By grasping the transaction environment, multinational M&A companies can better understand the objectives of M&A, consider the benefits of M&A, minimize the losses caused by cross-border transactions, and reduce transaction risks. Through the example of Lenovo's merger with IBM, we can see the difficulties and risks that need to be faced in mergers and acquisitions, and we can also see the huge benefits that enterprises can obtain after successful cross-border mergers and acquisitions.

Taste for pollen comes in different shapes: Consumption by tadpoles from three divergent ecomorphotypes

AbstractPollen is a nutritive resource, but its role in aquatic food webs is little studied. Successful pollen acquisition may require behavioral adaptations for tadpoles with certain morphologies; however, pollen coats are hard to break to enable content assimilation. We investigated the consumption of pollen by tadpoles from three ecomorphotypes adapted to feed on the surface (neustonic), the water column (nektonic) and the bottom (benthic). We sampled three developmental stage ranges at both wet and dry seasons at a site in southeastern Brazil. We analyzed the pollen content and coat‐breaking level in three sections of tadpole guts and in their feces. We compared pollen composition in tadpole guts among groups based on species and developmental stages and between seasons. We also compared the total number of pollen grains and proportion of broken grains (as a surrogate for digestion capacity) in the guts among species, developmental stages, and between seasons. Ecomorphotype, developmental stage, and season influenced both composition and quantity of pollen consumed. Neustonic tadpoles in general consumed a greater amount of pollen grains and broke them faster, compared to the other ecomorphotypes. Tadpoles showed some variation in the amount of pollen consumed among developmental stages, which interacted with species, but developmental stages of the same species did not differ. Pollen consumption only varied between seasons for the nektonic tadpoles, being greater in the dry season. The high nutritive value of pollen is likely to make consumption by tadpoles rewarding and has an important effect in aquatic food webs, reinforcing the importance of conserving riparian habitats and their vegetation.

Modified Dynamic CT Myelography for Type 1 and 2 CSF Leaks: A Procedural Approach.

Dynamic CT myelography can identify spinal CSF leaks secondary to dural tears (type 1) and ruptured meningeal diverticula (type 2), but the radiation can be high secondary to multiple successive acquisitions. The purpose of this article is to discuss the procedural approach of a modified dynamic CT myelography technique with single scan acquisitions, reduced contrast volume, and condensed scan coverage and compare its radiation dose with that in traditional dynamic CT myelography. Retrospective review was performed for patients with spontaneous CSF leaks showing extradural collections on spine MR imaging who underwent traditional and modified dynamic CT myelography. The radiation doses between the 2 cohorts were compared. Thirty-seven patients (25 women, 12 men) had a type 1 or 2 CSF leak on dynamic CT myelography. Thirty-one patients had a type 1 CSF leak, and 6 patients had type 2 leaks. The traditional dynamic CT myelography was performed in 25 patients, and the average number of acquisitions per dynamic CT myelography was 3.6. The mean total effective dose per dynamic CT myelography was 31.3 mSv (range, 11.3-68.4 mSv). The modified dynamic CT myelography was performed in 12 patients, and the average number of acquisitions was 2.8. The mean total effective dose per dynamic CT myelography was 15.1 mSv (range, 4.8-24.6 mSv). The effective dose and dose-length product between the cohorts were statistically significant (P < .0001 and .01, respectively). Modified dynamic CT myelography performed with single scan acquisitions, smaller volume of contrast, and reduced scan coverage can reduce the radiation dose for type 1 and 2 CSF leak detection.

How does having a good ear promote successful second language speech acquisition in adulthood? Introducing Auditory Precision Hypothesis-L2

AbstractIn this paper, I first provide a brief review of how scholars have conceptualized, tested, and elaborated aptitude frameworks relevant to second language (L2) speech learning. Subsequently, I introduce an emerging paradigm that assigns a fundamental role to domain-general auditory processing (i.e., having a good ear) in L1 speech acquisition and proposes that the same faculty acts as a cornerstone of L2 speech learning (i.e., the Auditory Precision Hypothesis-L2). This hypothesis predicts that learners with more precise auditory processing ability will be able to make the most of every input opportunity, which will result in more advanced L2 speech proficiency. To close, I will provide suggestions on how scholars can assess L2 students’ auditory processing ability (e.g., our team's offline test deposited at L2 Speech Tools for Researchers &amp; Teachers [http://sla-speech-tools.com/]) and discuss how the results can be used to maximize learners’ L2 speech learning opportunities via optimal, profile-matched training programs (e.g., explicit vs. incidental training; naturalistic vs. classroom learning; phonetic vs. auditory training).

The bright side of trust‐less relationships: A dyadic investigation of the role of trust congruence on supplier knowledge acquisition across borders

AbstractTrust is considered essential to interfirm knowledge acquisition across borders. However, recent studies indicate that interfirm collaboration can thrive even in low trust situations. This study proposes that low trust can facilitate supplier knowledge acquisition (SKA) across borders if it is aligned with the other party's trust. Rather than high trust from a single party, trust congruence—similar levels of trust from buyers and suppliers regardless of their levels—may be more predictive of successful knowledge acquisition across borders. We further propose that different types of trust congruence have distinct effects on SKA across borders. Last, we propose that the influence of trust congruence on SKA is conditional on the presence of effective knowledge appropriability mechanisms (KAMs) and institutional distance between buyer and supplier home countries in cross‐border transactions. Data are collected from 648 managers working for 162 matched dyads of manufacturing suppliers in China and buyers from 24 OECD countries. The findings support the propositions and suggest that supply chain managers should pay attention to aligning trust levels with their partners in cross‐border transactions, and especially do so when lacking effective KAMs and when buyers and suppliers are from similar institutional environments.

Back to basics – grammar focus in teaching business negotiations

Negotiations are generally acknowledged as a phenomenon pertaining to all aspects of life. Whether in relation to power and persuasion, to culture and non-verbal communication, falling into various categories, depending on their nature or purpose, negotiations will probably never cease to be a core topic in any Business Communication curriculum. Nonetheless, grammar focus has been rather overshadowed by LSP specialists’ growing interest in fluency, culture and emotional intelligence-related aspects. The aim of this paper is to mark a return to the importance of grammar in teaching negotiation skills by identifying some means to integrate it within the curriculum and to ensure its successful acquisition among business students.

Null and overt pronoun interpretation in L2 Mandarin resultative constructions

Abstract This experimental study examines the acquisition of null and overt pronoun interpretations in Chinese as a second language by native speakers of English. A linguistic phenomenon not present in the native language of the learners is identified: the null element in the embedded subject position of Mandarin resultative constructions can only refer to the main-clause subject, while an overt pronoun in the same position can refer both to the main-clause subject and to another entity in the discourse. Thus the acquisition task includes learning a new functional morpheme, a null element, as well as constraining its interpretation in the resultative construction. We tested 59 L2 learners of Chinese at different proficiency levels and 51 native Mandarin speakers on a Truth Value Judgment Task. The learners showed a pattern of interpretation that was statistically indistinguishable from the native speakers’ in all but one context. We argue that our findings point to largely successful acquisition of the requisite proform interpretations, even though the restrictions on the interpretation of null elements cannot be transferred from the native language.

Reading skills promotion: Results on the impact of a preschool intervention

There is a strong correlation between preschool education skills such as phonological awareness and language and success in reading and spelling acquisition. Even though, this is still not the focus of the early intervention. This study presents the preliminary results of the impact of an intervention program developed to promote reading foundation skills. The study was conducted with 627 children in the last year of preschool education (54.2% boys), ages between 4 years and 10 months and 6 years and 1 month. Participants were divided into intervention (n = 242) and comparative (n = 385) group. Language, implicit, and explicit phonological awareness, and rime implicit awareness were assessed. The intervention group reached statistically higher values in all dimensions at the post-test, a higher magnitude effect and 80% of these children entered the first-grade overpassing cut-off criteria for reading acquisition difficulties. These results support the impact of the program.

Is Board Gender Diversity the Key to Understanding Culture’s Impact on International Merger and Acquisition Success?

Is Board Gender Diversity the Key to Understanding Culture’s Impact on International Merger and Acquisition Success?

Is Board Gender Diversity the Key to Understanding the Culture’s Impact on International Merger and Acquisition Success?

Is Board Gender Diversity the Key to Understanding the Culture’s Impact on International Merger and Acquisition Success?

Quantität des Inputs – eine ausschlaggebende Voraussetzung im Spracherwerb?

Access to language is a crucial factor in language acquisition, as the learner requires the necessary input to learn a new language. However, there is a question about whether the quantity of exposure to the target language is the key factor for a successful language acquisition. This study examines 80 students, with 10 students from each year from 5th to 12th grade, at a German high school in Romania. The students start learning the German language in kindergarten, meaning that they have their first contact with the language at the age of three, which could correspond to a gradual first language acquisition. They continue their language learning intensively in school, being exposed to at least five hours of German language every day. However, even after twelve years, their level of language proficiency does not reach the expected level of a near-native speaker. They conspicuously search for words and use an unusual sentence structure when they need to engage in free conversation. This study aims to answer the question of why, even after so many years of daily exposure to the German language, the students are not able to approach a near-native level, when according to the Goethe Institute, only 600 class hours of 60 minutes each would be necessary to reach the C1 level.

Визначення сутності корпоративної інтеграції у векторі розвитку корпоративного управління

The study is dedicated to determining the essence of corporate integration in the vector of corporate governance development, in particular, foreign and domestic research on the essence and processes of corporate integration in the vector of corporate governance development was thoroughly summarized and the basic principles of corporate integration process management were substantiated. In our research, we came to the view that integration can be represented in dynamics as a process, and in statics as a state, the result of a process. For all the multitude of types of integration, we came to the conclusion that they come down to two options depending on the subject composition of the participants: territorial (interstate, interregional) integration; production integration. The conducted research made it possible to identify within the currents and schools of economic theory different directions for the study of integration activity, which is explained by the complexity, multi-component and interdependence of the components of the phenomenon under study. Also, our analysis of literary sources revealed the absence of a universal approach both to the phenomenon of corporate integration and to its typology. Therefore, its essence and process were considered within the framework of the neoclassical direction, institutional economic theory, from the standpoint of the structural-functional approach and the global economic approach. Today, there is an approach that examines integration processes in two areas: international economic relations and organizational and economic relations at the level of individual organizations. Depending on the direction of corporate integration, the main types of merger and acquisition agreements were highlighted. In the study, according to the level of centralization of functions, two main organizational and economic forms of a corporate association were highlighted and schematically presented: an international corporation and an international strategic alliance. We also considered the management characteristics of the classification of integration associations from several different aspects: level of integration; goals of integration; form of ownership; field of activity; geographic coverage. We have described in detail the forms of international corporations, such as national associations, syndicates, trusts, concerns, and conglomerates, since these forms are a rigid and long-term type of association of companies. It was determined that each of the considered organizational and economic forms can be formed by various methods, which we presented in the author's classification of methods of formation of organizational and economic forms of international corporate integration. It was determined that management of corporate integration processes requires justification, adoption and implementation of management decisions. These decisions are determined by various factors: strategic orientation; new competitive advantages and competencies; interaction with other subjects of economic relations. These parameters affect the development and implementation of management solutions in the field of corporate integration. The article identifies several widely used methods of managing corporate integration processes that help ensure a successful merger or acquisition of companies: strategic planning; project management; involvement of key stakeholders; cultural integration; effective communication. Therefore, the choice of necessary and effective management methods depends on specific circumstances, strategic goals and features of corporate integration. It is recommended to choose those methods that are best suited to achieve successful integration of companies, in particular, they can be combined.

Bilingualism and Development of Literacy in Children: A Systematic Review.

The importance of biliteracy in bilingual children's development has been widely investigated and discussed for the last several decades, suggesting beneficial effects of writing and reading in two languages for bilingual children as well as for adult second language learners. To analyze research on the link between bilingualism and literacy development in two or more languages and the factors that may influence a successful or problematic biliteracy acquisition. RQ (1): What is the relationship between bilingualism and literacy of bilingual children? RQ (2): What strategies are used to develop biliteracy? The review analyzes 50 studies of literacy development in bilingual children. The selected articles have been separated based on their methodology: 25 articles gave a critical analysis of more than 1,100 studies on the topic, strengthening the theoretical basis of existing research, and 25 other articles were empirical research articles demonstrating practical evidence for the former. Our analysis revealed that literacy in bilinguals, or biliteracy, can be seen as a necessary condition for fluent development of bilingualism, though it is not a necessary condition (which is explained by the difference between structures of specific languages and writing systems, instruction in literacy, and cognitive baggage invoked by the task used to measure the skill) (Bialystok, 2002). Research suggests that bilingualism impacts children's ultimate acquisition of literacy via the beneficial effects of bilingualism overall: advanced biliteracy boosts the development of phonological and phonemic awareness and metacognitive abilities. Thus, biliteracy can be considered as an advantage in terms of maintaining bilingual acquisition in general and developing writing skills in particular. There is a lack of studies on the development of writing skills in different educational contexts, across countries and cultures, which must be addressed and complemented by new empirical research. Research will enable policymakers to improve educational programs in accordance with the needs of bilingual children, who are the majority in the current global population.

СОЗДАНИЕ ДОРОЖНОЙ КАРТЫ ПО ФОРМИРОВАНИЮ МЕТАКОМПЕТЕНЦИЙ В ГУМАНИТАРНОМ ПРОФИЛЕ: ПЕРСПЕКТИВЫ И МЕТОДЫ

Currently, the humanities face challenges and needs related to the formation of metacompetencies in students and professionals in the field. Metacompetencies are skills and strategies that contribute to successful knowledge acquisition and development of personal qualities. The authors consider metacompetencies as supra-subject abilities including metacognition, metaplanning, metacognition and self-regulation. Metacompetencies such as critical thinking, creative problem solving, communication skills, and self-reflection play an important role in success in the liberal arts professions. This article proposes an approach to developing a Roadmap for metacompetency development in a humanities major based on a literature review and expert opinion. The key components and stages of Roadmap development are considered, as well as methods and tools that can be used to create the Roadmap; examples of successful Roadmap implementation are presented. The study utilizes qualitative methods such as research literature review, expert interviews, and group discussions to identify key aspects of metacompetencies. The perspectives and methods presented in the article can be useful for educators, administrators and researchers interested in developing effective educational programs and practices for students in the humanities. This contributes to improving the quality of education, increasing the professional training of graduates and their competitiveness in the labor market.

Spectral Gap-Based Seismic Survey Design

Seismic imaging in challenging sedimentary basins and reservoirs requires acquiring, processing, and imaging very large volumes of data (tens of terabytes). To reduce the cost of acquisition and the time from acquiring the data to producing a subsurface image, novel acquisition systems based on compressive sensing (CS), low-rank matrix recovery (LRMR), and randomized sampling have been developed and implemented. These approaches allow practitioners to achieve dense wavefield reconstruction from a substantially reduced number of field samples. However, designing acquisition surveys suited for this new sampling paradigm remains a critical and challenging role in oil, gas, and geothermal exploration. Typical random designs studied in the LRMR and CS literature are difficult to achieve by standard industry hardware. For practical purposes, a compromise between stochastic and realizable samples is needed. In this article, we propose a deterministic and computationally cheap tool to alleviate randomized acquisition design, prior to survey deployment and large-scale optimization. We consider universal and deterministic matrix completion results in the context of seismology, where a bipartite graph representation of the source–receiver layout allows for the respective spectral gap (SG) to act as a quality metric for wavefield reconstruction. We provide realistic scenarios to demonstrate the utility of the SG as a flexible tool that can be incorporated into existing survey design workflows for successful seismic data acquisition via low-rank and sparse signal recovery.

Simultaneous Discrimination of Multiple Chromophores With Frequency Division Multiplexed Four-Color Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy

Herein, we implement a four-color functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) system using frequency division multiplexing (FDM) to demonstrate simultaneous discrimination of multiple chromophores. The proposed fNIRS system consists of a four-channel flexible patch with two light-emitting diode (LED) modules, four photodiodes, and a control board for FDM. Unlike the conventional time division multiplexing (TDM) method that turns on/off individual LEDs sequentially, the FDM method can simultaneously turn on/off the entire LEDs using different modulation frequencies. Therefore, the sampling rate of FDM can be increased by eight times compared to the case of TDM under the same condition of two light sources with four wavelengths. First, for validation of the developed fNIRS system, we conducted a comparative experiment with a commercial spectrometer using two types of dyes in a customized phantom. By comparing the absorbance spectra for each wavelength using both instruments, we confirmed that the correlation between the absorbance measured by the two instruments was high with an R-square value of up to 0.99662. Second, three chromophores of oxyhemoglobin (HbO), deoxyhemoglobin (HbR), and the oxidation state of cytochrome-c-oxidase (oxCCO) were discriminated in vivo using four wavelengths for the cerebral blood flow response with correlation coefficients and effect size. The average hemodynamic response during cerebral activity clearly presented an increased HbO and a decreased HbR simultaneously. We also confirmed that the strong correlation between oxCCO (directly involved in oxygen metabolism) and hemoglobin difference (cerebral oxygenation) showed a Pearson’s correlation coefficient of 0.7342. These results demonstrate the validity of the FDM-based fNIRS system and the successful acquisition of brain signals. This reveals that FDM can be applied to various bio-engineering applications in the future.

¿Enseñanza explícita o imitación? Cómo desarrollar algunos rasgos suprasegmentales en la producción oral de estudiantes de español hungaroparlantes

Some former studies (Baditzné, 2019 and 2020; Kovács, in press) suggest the lack of chaining or fluency in the speech of Hungarian B2 CEFR level students of Spanish. On the basis of these previous results, we pose the question whether the pronunciation of Hungarian learners regarding these aspects can be further improved by making them aware of the phenomena of synalepha and resyllabification, and if so, which one is more effective: practicing its use through different simple activities, or the imitation of the oral production of native speakers. To answer the research question, the oral production (in the form of reading) of 10 Hungarian students was analysed regarding the synalepha and resyllabification, before and after they had participated in a brief individual training on the suprasegmental traits in question or who had been exposed to an authentic recording with native speech. According to our data, which can be considered preliminary, it is the explicit training that contributes to a greater extent to a more successful acquisition of the two phenomena.